#MovementForModernLife + #MoveMoreLiveMore

YOGA TO RESET AND RECENTRE

How often do you feel like you need some breathing space, or in fact you wish the earth would stop spinning for a second whilst you catch your breath? We can all feel anxious and overwhelmed. For some of us, this seems hardwired into our being whilst for others a feeling of anxiousness wells up with the change of seasons, or a period of extreme pressure at work or even the feeling that our busy lifestyles are forever getting busier with no respite. Every day stressors can work cumulatively and sometimes it is the smallest thing that breaks the camel’s back, so to speak. This course will help you to find ways in which to create more space in your body and mind, dedicate some time to yourself and will support you in spinning those plates without feeling overwhelmed. Who is this course for:

Those experiencing occassional anxiety or experiencing anxiety right now

For all levels

Exploring the relationship between breath, movement and mood

Beginners but also includes some strong improvers and intermediate/advanced classes

Breathwork classes suitable for all levels

#MovementForModernLife + #MoveMoreLiveMore

YOGA TO RESET AND RECENTRE

How often do you feel like you need some breathing space, or in fact you wish the earth would stop spinning for a second whilst you catch your breath? We can all feel anxious and overwhelmed. For some of us, this seems hardwired into our being whilst for others a feeling of anxiousness wells up with the change of seasons, or a period of extreme pressure at work or even the feeling that our busy lifestyles are forever getting busier with no respite. Every day stressors can work cumulatively and sometimes it is the smallest thing that breaks the camel’s back, so to speak. This course will help you to find ways in which to create more space in your body and mind, dedicate some time to yourself and will support you in spinning those plates without feeling overwhelmed. Who is this course for:

Those experiencing occassional anxiety or experiencing anxiety right now

For all levels

Exploring the relationship between breath, movement and mood

Beginners but also includes some strong improvers and intermediate/advanced classes

Breathwork classes suitable for all levels

AN EPIDEMIC OF BEING BUSY

Have you noticed how often you feel busy? We seem to have got ourselves in the position that being busy is preferable to having little to do or even feeling bored and our super connectivity can make things worse. Many of us feel a weight of expectation that we need to be working all the time or filling our time with activity. Others of us have fallen into the trap of not being able to say no. Take time to consider though how much of your ‘busy’ time is productive? There are so many things vying for our attention, many may be worthwhile but try and explore if in fact, saying ‘no’ to some things might serve you better? This might also be a way of practicing the yama, ‘aparigraha’ which roughly translates as greedlessness or non-possessiveness. This is as true of experiences and meetings as of material possessions. There is an alternative. We can take charge of our time and make sure that we set aside time to do what nourishes us and gives us joy, like yoga and whilst you’re at it why not schedule some time where you do nothing at all? If you do this, infuse this time feeling good about your decision and not berating yourself for taking time out!

LEARNING TO LET GO OF WHAT CAN'T BE CHANGED

Sometimes, external factors can affect how we feel, and there is little we can do about the circumstances. Seasonal change can often bring feelings of anxiety and these can be exacerbated by societal pressure. Think about the weeks running up to Christmas and the extra pressure we put on ourselves. In other cases illness, our own, or those we care about or trauma or simply unexpected changes can trigger our anxiety. We might not be able to change the circumstances but we can use yoga to help us to react in a more mindful and more graceful way and we can be compassionate with our experience.

WHAT SHOULD YOU EXPECT?

These 21 classes will help you to ‘catch your breath’. These classes have been picked to get you out of your head and feeling into your body. They will help you to focus on developing a rhythmic breath and help you to alleviate some of the symptoms you can experience with anxiety. We have included breathing classes which are designed to help alleviate feelings of anxiety. The movement classes are rhythmic and can be strong and we have also included classes to help you to address areas that may be directly impacted by tension such as your neck, shoulders and jaw.

HOW TO PRACTICE?

We would advise you to sit for a moment and work out what will serve you best. Begin by acknowledging what is happening in your body and how you feel but do this with compassion. There are times we all feel anxious, don’t beat yourself up about it or do yourself down. Do you need to move? Moving strongly but mindfully is a great way to work that jittery feeling out of your body. If you feel a churning of thoughts, grounding down and connecting with the earth through your feet will help to move your energy down and some of our stronger classes in this series will support you to focus on your body rather than the churning thoughts running through your head. Developing a rhythmic breath will help to calm and soothe jangled nerves and in letting go of worry, fear and negative thoughts. Our Inner Axis breathing class with Max Strom and Dan Peppiatt’s Breath & Peace can help you to find a breath practice that will work for you and your feelings of anxiety. Trying a class which incorporates gentle repetitive movements from Qi Gong like Mimi’s Winter Warmer: Settling the Spirit or Joo’s Rebalance yourself which we have included is a great way to help settle the mind. We hope you find your way back to centre and do share what you’ve found works for you in our movers group.

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

Why not challenge a friend or loved one to join you? We want you to feel supported: Join our Movers' Facebook Group and let us know how you get on during the challenge and share your journey with us on social media using #MovementForModernLife + #MoveMoreLiveMore.

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Your Classes

Step1

Inner Axis: Learn To Breathe

10:52 | Max Strom

In this short interview and demonstration Max Strom teaches us the basis of the breathing technique, Ocean Breath. This is a wonderful technique for dealing with all kinds of stress as well as being the basis for breathing during yoga practice.

Inner Axis - All Levels

59:50 | Max Strom

Inner Axis is new wellbeing movement class developed by Max Strom and deals directly with stress, anxiety, and sleeplessness. It is gentle and graceful, utilising breath-­based yoga inspired movement, inspiring visualizations, and immediately effective relaxation techniques. It is accessible to all fitness levels. A very calming practice, a great antidote for stressful modern lives. (There is no chanting or sanskrit.)

Pranayama To Calm

17:02 | Bridget Woods-Kramer

A pranayama (or breath-work) class to teach various breathing techniques which create a sense of calm. These are wonderful techniques to use when life is challenging, or when you're facing a more stressful time in your life.

Breath and Peace

13:13 | Dan Peppiatt

A chilled and relaxing short breathing yoga class perfect for Christmas day, or whenever your life is busy and a bit overwhelming. With this class you'll be able to take some time out for yourself and return your breath back to a natural efficient pattern, preparing you for the challenges that the day and that the festive period can bring.

Rebalance Yourself

24:24 | Joo Teoh

A gentle sequence to calm and rebalance your emotions after a stressful time. There are times when we can be knocked off our centre, maybe something as simple as someone has said something that has shocked us, or we are needing to rebalance after grief. This mixture of calming yoga, qi-gong and breath-work practices will calms and quieten your jangled nerves after a shock or stressful moment. These rebalancing classes are gentle and many poses may be done in a chair.

Peace and Breath

17:20 | Norman Blair

A very quiet and gentle yoga class. All yoga poses are supine and held for a period, where the body is calmed and quieted and attention is turned inward. Then Norman leads a breath practice at sitting. You may need a cushion or block for sitting still. Great for times where you are looking to reduce stress/anxiety and perfect for before bed when you are looking to quiet the mind and gently stretch the body.

Alternate Nostril Breath

06:55 | Clare Beagley

Alternate nostril breath is a great reliver for agitation, anxiety or insomia. It also gently uplifts if you are low on energy. Take this class on it's own to clam your nerves or add to your class before relaxation.

Big & Fearless Heart

52:58 | Naomi Absalom

Most of us have experienced fear of some kind and know that when we're in it's grip the ripples permeate all areas of our lives. Allowing fear to continue to have power over us keeps us firmly locked in cycles of fear, anxiety, low self esteem and so on. A big part of beginning to break down some of these patterns is actually providing space and time to experience our own vulnerability - sitting with the feelings and sensations which arise when we do so. This is a beautifully deep and transformative flow and part of Naomi's personal home practice. Expect plenty of backbending and as usual a lot of breath! You will need 2 blocks.

Feel Grounded in Uncertain Times

22:06 | Nikita Akilapa

Feeling unsettled? Uncertain? With a focus on alignment, this class will get you steady in uncertain times. Nikita guides you through a hatha standing posture sequence, designed to stabilise and ground, whilst bringing you fully into your body

Yoga for Anxiety

38:32 | Leila Sadeghee

This is a yoga class for when your head is a 'swiling thought mess'. Class starts with some energetic jumping lunges (feel free to give these a miss if you're not up to them!) - then the class intersperses asana to open and release the hips with calming breath exercises. Suitable for all levels, although not everyone may be able to keep up with Leila's energy levels at the start of class, but persevere if you can! The remaining 30 minutes of yoga and breath-work is much more peaceful and bound to see your anxiety levels to calm and managable levels.

Breathwork for Health, Calm, Immunity and Migraines

34:22 | Naomi Absalom

Breathwork - the secret to great health and moving you from 'doing OK' to living your most vibrant life. In this class, Naomi leads us through some powerful breath practices which can radically help your life. The first practice serves to open up the breath through the lungs and the entire system - shifting any kind of erratic breath patterns or involuntary breath holds but also supporting immune function. The second is a beautifully calming breath that works to balance the chemistry of the body. If this is your second viewing of the video and you'd like the practices without the explanation, the practices start at 8 minutes. Do not practice this class if you are pregnant (although you can practice the second technique) and for some sufferers of anxiety, it may be useful to practice with a knowledgable teacher at first. Breathwork is more powerful than you may think!

Move Into Calm

31:07 | Zephyr Wildman

Use this class to challenge any negative emotions and exchange them for their positive counterparts. You will be encouraged to channel love to displace disgust, courage instead of fear, wonder to replace anger and joy to overide sadness.

Dealing with Overwhelm

22:10 | Mollie McClelland Morris

Mollie shows us some really useful bodywork practices for when life just gets too tough and stressful, to create some space in your body, your tissues and your head. She uses tapping, breathwork and yoga - some of which you can learn and use at your desk for when life moves too fast. Optional prop: a blanket.

Letting Go Vinyasa Flow

50:01 | Jean Hall

This slow flow class is designed to rid the body and mind of tensions which accumulate as a result of life's experiences. These tensions can hold us back, so the class focuses on releasing them so that, in time, we are ready to move on. The class begins slowly and mindfully with supine breathing practices for the first eight minutes. If you want to get moving sooner, but still gain the benefit of tension release, you may want to start with child's pose eight minutes into class. This class is a slow vinyasa flow, focusing on mindfulnes and release.

Winter Warmers Yoga and Qigong: Spirit Warming 3 Settling the Spirit

23:11 | Mimi Kuo-Deemer

This yoga and Qigong class is perfect for when you've had a frantic day and you need to settle your spirit. It's gentle mainly floor-based, so is great for the evenings to settle into the evening and to de-tangle your nerves and settle your spirit so that you can get stoked about the next thing... bed?!

Quick Fix To Calm

05:10 | Kirsty Norton

Have this in your yoga toolkit - its super effective at changing your mindset and bringing you calm in a matter of minutes. Practice this every day if you can. You can do this practice either lying down, it's great before bed - or on a chair if you're needing to melt away tension at work.

Heat Your Body, Cool Your Nervous System

28:08 | Leila Sadeghee

In this class, Leila shares her own practice which helps her to deal with living in the modern, urban world. How she pulls her awareness away from struggle and into ease. This is a meditative, heating practice to cool the nervous system and support the immune system. The class is a fast-flowing and core-focused Anusara-Inspired vinyasa flow ending with plenty of supine twists.

Forrest Yoga Neck & Jaw Release

36:04 | Kristi Rodelli

This Forrest yoga class is just perfect if you've had a long day, if you're having a tough week, or are feeling a bit headachy. Any stresses or anxiety from the day or the week will unravel as you release aches in your neck, jaw and shoulders, which can suffer in stressful times. With hallmark strengthening and abs work, this class is perfect to keep you strong while you unwind. You will need a roll and a block.

Forrest Yoga: Release & Transform

17:20 | Ana Forrest

Forrest Yoga's creatrix Ana Forrest introduces a revolutionary new way to move. She shows the Forrest yoga methods of releasing tension in the neck and shoulders, soothing stressed minds, building core strength and improving lower back strength. All in this short practice. Curious? We were and were blown away with Ana’s sequence.

Guided Relaxation

08:23 | Bridget Woods-Kramer

This is a guided relaxation in Savasana (Corpse Pose). You may want to use this lovely long savasana at the end of any of our longer, more dynamic classes to help you to let go and cultivate compassion towards yourself and others. Also a beautiful relaxation for anytime you need to be de-stressed and chilled out.

Transforming Stress: Mindfulness Meditation

13:08 | Toby Ouvry

A beautiful, short mindfulness exercise on how to transform stress, anxiety and fear into something positive. A really useful mindfulness class with techniques to take into daily life to transform stressful feelings through actions.

Wind Down Floor Flow

24:43 | Zephyr Wildman

A lovely, calming, floor-based yoga class. Perfect for winding down at the end of the day, or for a very gentle wake up, or for when you're just not feeling your best. This class will have you feeling calmed, restored and gently re-invigorated with a focus on hip and hamstring stretches.

Yoga Poses for Anxiety

13:23 | Lizzie Reumont

Sometimes life is just overwhelming and we just need 10 minutes to move into calm. These 8 yoga poses are known to release anxiety through the body. These yoga poses for anxiety include headstand which is deeply calming for those who can, and if you're not comfortable in headstand, take downward dog or child's pose.

End of Day Recharge

19:00 | Clive Fogelman

A great transition sequence to do at the end of a busy day if you’ve just got home from work or if you have been out doing lots of different things. Or if you want a little break during the day but don’t have much time or space this might be just what you need. It starts from standing then we move to all fours and finish on the back.